LOCAL STORIES

About the Find Knox

By Warren Strybosch

The Find Knox is a community paper that aims to support all things Knox. We want to provide a place where all NotFor-Profits (NFP), schools, sporting groups and other like organisations can share their news in one place. For instance, submitting up-and-coming events in the Find Knox for Free.

We do not proclaim to be another newspaper and we will not be aiming to compete with other news outlets. You can obtain your news from other sources. We feel you get enough of this already. We will keep our news topics to a minimum and only provide what we feel is most relevant topics to you each month.

We invite local council and the current council members to participate by submitting information each month so as to keep us informed of any changes that may be of relevance to us, their local constituents. We will also try and showcase different organisations throughout the year so you, the reader, can learn more about what is on offer in your local area.

To help support the paper, we invite local businesses owners to sponsor the paper and in return we will provide exclusive advertising and opportunities to submit articles about their businesses. As a community we encourage you to support these businesses/columnists. Without their support, we would not be able to provide this community paper to you.

Lastly, we want to ask you, the local community, to support the fundraising initiatives that we will be developing and rolling out over the coming years. Our aim is to help as many NFP and other like organisations to raise much needed funds to help them to keep operating. Our fundraising initiatives will never simply ask for money from you. We will also aim to provide something of worth to you before you part with your hard-earned money. The first initiative is the Find Cards and Find Coupons – similar to the Entertainment Book but cheaper and more localised. Any NFP and similar organisations e.g., schools, sporting clubs, can participate.

Follow us on facebook (https://www. facebook.com/findknox) so you keep up to date with what we are doing.

We value your support,

The Find Knox Team.

COVID-19 $450 payments to cease.

By Warren Strybosch

The Andrew’s government will cease paying the $450 payment to Victorians whilst they await their PCR test results, as rapid swabs make the system obsolete.

The state government announced its test isolation payment will end with demand reducing as rapid antigen tests become more widely available. Industry Support and Recovery Minister Martin Pakula said Victoria was entering a new phase of managing the pandemic and the program was no longer necessary.

“The recommended testing method has changed with rapid antigen tests providing results within minutes and eliminating the need to miss work while waiting for test results,” Mr Pakula said.

More than 1.2 million payments worth about $545 million have been approved since the system began in July 2020 during the state’s devastating second wave of COVID-19 infections.

Payments will still be available for Victorians who have to self-isolate, quarantine or need to care for someone in self-isolation or quarantine under the federal government’s pandemic leave disaster payment.

Housing Prices Drop

For the past two years we have seen significant housing growth but now capital city values are starting to trend downwards, according to latest data.

Sydney has posted the first decline in housing values since September 2020. Whilst the drop of 0.1 per cent is a modest decline, it is an indication of where the market is likely to head for both Sydney and Melbourne over the next 12 to 24 months.

CoreLogic’s national Home Value Index recorded a 0.6 per cent gain in February, the pace of growth had slowed since April 2021 and marked the lowest monthly reading since October 2020. Stronger housing market conditions were recorded in Brisbane and Adelaide and Hobart, where housing values rose by more than 1.0 per cent in February.

Regional markets remain strong

Whilst capital cities are starting to trend downwards, regional Australia continues to record a substantially higher rate of growth than the capital cities.

Over the past three months, housing values across the combined rest-of–state regions increased (up 5.7 per cent), compared to combined capitals that rose 1.8 per cent. Although the rolling quarterly rate of value growth remains rapid across regional Australia, conditions have eased from its recent peak of 6.4 per cent over the December quarter and is down from a cyclical peak of 6.6 per cent recorded in April last year.

CoreLogic’s director of research, Tim Lawless, said demographic tailwinds, low inventory levels and ongoing demand for coastal or tree-change housing options are continuing to support strong upwards price pressures across regional housing markets.

Suncorp Super mergers with QSuper and increases insurance premiums

By Warren Strybosch

Recently Suncorp Super merged with QSuper. Suncorp Super, in a statement to its members, informed them that their insurances held with Suncorp Super would be increasing from the 27th of February 2022.

Suncorp Super encouraged their members to speak to a financial advisor about the increase in insurance premiums.

If you are a previous member of Suncorp Super or QSuper, we would encourage you to make an appointment to speak to an advisor at Find Insurance or Find Wealth. You may be surprised to discover that there may be better insurance and super alternatives available to you.

If you wish to speak to an advisor at Find Insurance or Find Wealth, simply contact them on 1300 88 38 30 or email info@ findwealth.com.au or info@findinsurance.com.au and ask for a free appointment to discuss your insurance and/or super needs.

Dealing in Crypto?

ASIC asks you to get financial planning advice

By Warren Strybosch

Crypto, like any investment can rise and fall. In the last few months, we have seen crypto currencies fall between 40% to 90% and with a current unstable world economy, it does not look like we will see a rebound in this sector anytime soon.

The most common crypto currency is Bitcoin. At its height in November 2021, it was worth close to $94,000 AUD, and currently it is worth $53,000.

Even before the fall in crypto pricing, ASIC was concerned with the number of people investing in crypto. People had it in their mind that crypto would just continue to rise in price without ever falling. They, those who wanted to invest, were concerned they were missing the boat on such a lucrative opportunity. However, like with all investments that are driven mainly by fear in greed, crypto has proven to be no different to other investments we have seen in the past. It will have its amazing ups and downs and trying to ‘guess’ or ‘time’ the market can have devastating consequences for many investors whilst only a few people end up walking away as the winners.

I have heard stories of investors jumping in at the high, watching crypto drop 1015%, leverage up their investment (in otherwards borrow against their current investments), to only see the bottom drop out of crypto after they have borrowed the funds. This has resulted in a margin call whereby they have had to sell down their now worthless investments to cover the borrowings because the lender was concerned, they might not have the ability to pay back the loan. This has resulted in them walking away with a few thousand dollars from the nearly $50,000 they had originally invested.

Does this sound familiar? This is what happened with the GFC where investors had margin loans against their investments. Of those who had margin loans during the GFC, approximately 90% of investors had margin calls and were required to either sell down their investments or come up with additional funds to pay back the loan. Time simply repeats itself and the same lessons are being learned, albeit by the next generation.

The biggest issue with crypto investing is income – it simply does not produce any. With all good investments you should seek growth and income and not simply growth. Yes, you can stake some coins, and this can alleviate some of the issues around price drops, but given there is no income, you are subject to everyone else’s fear and greed driving pricing. This lack of income makes you heavily reliant or hopeful on growth and when it does not occur can cause all kinds of problems as the example above demonstrates. If you do happen to time it right and get some growth, you then must decide when to sell. Once you have sold you are out of the market.

With the lack of income that crypto provides e.g., none at all, it is not the most ideal investment to place your money into. Crypto should only be used by those investors who a) don’t need their money, and b) have all the time in theworld to watch the price go down. It is back the capital in the near future.

ASIC is so concerned about crypto and the increased market activity whereby schemers are recommending you switch from retail and industry funds to SMSFs to invest in crypto, that they have requested everyone seek financial planning advice from a licensed financial planner before making such decisions. ASIC said that individuals should not rely on social media ads or online contact promoting an “investment opportunity” or “high return” portfolio.

“Setting up an SMSF is one of the most significant decisions you can make relating to your retirement savings,” ASIC said.

In particular, individuals should be wary of cold calling, text messaging and emails that recommend transferring super to an SMSF or investing in crypto assets via their SMSF.

“Australians who decide to self-manage their super should consider the risks before using their SMSF to invest in cryptoassets,” ASIC noted.

“As the trustee of your SMSF, you ultimately bear responsibility for the fund’s decisions and for complying with the law even if you rely on other people’s advice – licensed or otherwise.”

The regulator pointed to its own website, Moneysmart and the ATO website as providing resources for information about scams, crypto investments and SMSFs.

In summary, crypto is an investment that will go and down in value, does not produce income, and should only be considered as an asset class for those investors who have the time and resources behind them to see them through a bearish market, and importantly, to seek advice, from a licensed financial planner, before making any decisions about what to invest in, that includes crypto.

Businesses Fudging the Books are Placed on Notice

By Warren Strybosch

Have you ever gone to pay for something and wondered whether the money you handed over is being recorded correctly for tax purposes? Do you sometimes think, especially when they ask if you want a receipt or not, if the funds are being recorded in a way so as to avoid paying tax? Well, your thoughts might have some validity to them.

The ATO has recently released PS LA 2022/1 Administrative penalties for electronic sales suppression tools. It provides guidance to ATO staff on the application and remission of the administrative penalties for producing, supplying, possessing and incorrectly keeping records using an electronic sales suppression tool (ESST). ESSTs are hardware or software tools designed and used to manipulate sales records, understate income and assist in avoiding tax obligations. The production, supply, possession and use of ESSTs contribute to the black economy and undermine the integrity of the tax system.

What is an ESST?

ESSTs are designed to interfere with electronic sales records; that is, they can falsify, manipulate, hide, obfuscate, destroy or prevent the creation of electronic sales records, often without an audit trail showing the interference. They can take various forms and are constantly evolving, but some examples include:

• software that deletes or modifies point of sale (POS) records • storage devices (such as back-up drives) containing software that deletes or modifies records • POS devices with software that deletes or modifies records.

Penalties apply for producing, supplying, possessing, and incorrectly keeping records using ESSTs, as well as aiding or abetting another to do so.

If you discover an entity has possession of or is using an ESST, in addition to considering if a penalty applies, you should work with the entity to ensure that the ESST is removed so the entity will no longer engage in conduct that can attract a penalty.

Deciding whether something is an ESST

To be an ESST, the tool must both be capable of interfering with a record and one of its principal functions must be to interfere with sales records. A modification or additional features added to a legitimate sales system can be an ESST, even if the device or program as a whole is not.

Records are information in any format that explain an entity’s transactions or other actions. Precisely what they are and what form they take depends on the circumstances. They generally include tax invoices, receipts and records of sales and all business transaction information.

An ESST must be capable of interfering with records. Typically, a tool can interfere with records if it can:

• manipulate, falsify or delete the record of transactions • renumber or recharacterise transactions • interfere with records without showing an audit trail of the changes.

A tool passes the capability test for an ESST if it can interfere with a record that:

• an entity is required by a taxation law to keep or make, and • has been, or could be, created by a

POS system which creates or feeds data into an entity’s tax records.

You do not need evidence that the tool has been used to interfere with a record, just that it is ‘capable’ of doing so.

Criminal prosecutions

An entity that produces, supplies or possesses an ESST or uses an ESST to incorrectly keep taxation records may be liable for criminal prosecution. The ATO may seek prosecution of an offence by conducting a criminal investigation and referring the matter to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

Example 1 - not an ESST - changes are recorded

Bellissima Beans Café Ltd buys a POS system for their new café. This POS system includes a function to reverse and void transactions. The manufacturer states that this function is for correcting mistakes and generating refunds. The POS system records all changes to transactions in its history log. It produces a receipt and marks it as a void transaction. All receipts have sequential transaction numbers so any void transactions with missing receipts can be identified.

Although this function gives Bellissima Beans Café Ltd the ability to delete and reverse transactions, the POS system creates an audit trail, so a reasonable person would not conclude that one of its principal functions is interfering with records. The POS system is not an ESST.

Example 2 - possession of an ESST - full remission

The ATO conducts a routine audit of a bookstore owned by Book Worms Pty Ltd (Book Worms). Bob is the director of this company and runs the bookstore. During the audit, a hidden function within the system allows sales transactions to be deleted or manipulated without leaving a record of the original transaction. As a reasonable person would conclude that one of the primary functions of this system is to interfere with sales records, it is an ESST.

Bob is surprised to discover that his system has an ESST and explains that he had no idea that it was there. He had bought the bookstore from Keanu in March 2017, who had not mentioned that there was anything unusual about the business or the equipment. He explains that he had not used the ESST and contacts his POS system supplier immediately to ensure ESST capabilities are removed.

At the conclusion of the audit, no evidence was found that the ESST had been used to alter any of Book Worms’ business records. The audit did not result in any amendments to Book Worms’ income tax returns or BASs. Book Worms has a good compliance history.

Notwithstanding the above, Book Worms is liable to an administrative penalty of 30 units for possessing an ESST. It does not matter that Book Worms came into possession of the ESST before the legislation was enacted.

Are you a Financial Planner looking for more clients?

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Find Aged Care Accommodation is seeking professional ‘aged care’ accredited financial planners to provide advice to those seeking aged care advice in their local area. Are you accredited and can help work with clients to find the best aged care options? Are you able to work with their loved ones and help make the process of transitioning into aged care less daunting and complex? If so, consider listing on our website.

List with us, and we will get you promoted through our website, social media, and local community papers.

Why not consider joining the Find Network as a specialist Aged Care advisor and obtain referral leads from the rest of the Find Network members in your area?

To learn more about these new opportunities, contact Warren on 1300 88 38 30 or email info@findagedcareaccommodation.com.au visit our website at www.findagedcareaccommodation.com.au